'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' Season 3 Episode 9 Recap

Raising Kanan Episode 309 Production Stills

Source: Courtesy / Starz

Ronnie and Kanan’s feud with Raq intensifies as Marvin desperately searches for Lou. Famous and Jukebox both find themselves at potential turning points in their music careers.

The episode began almost the same way the previous one did…with a drunk Lou. After damaging his and other people’s cars drunk driving, he pulled up to a liquor store. When it was time to check out, instead of paying he held the clerk at gunpoint. A stumbling Lou barely made it back to his car as the clerk began firing his own gun at him. Elsewhere, Ronnie was waiting for Juliana’s people to come and make a drop. He told his right hand Clarence to pull off because Juliana’s people were never late. Before they could leave, they were surrounded by Joaquin and soldiers. Joaquin alerted Ronnie that Juliana was dead and so was any relationship they might have had. He also added that Ronnie would be dead too if Snaps and Pop hadn’t asked for him to be spared. Although Joaquin said it was about him, Ronnie knew that somehow it all pointed back to Raq. Speaking of, Raq and Juke met at the diner we always used to see the family eat at. The two discussed Butta’s upcoming performance, Juke possibly going to the Army and how Marvin might react to the news. Raq advised her niece to do whatever would make her happy, whether it be joining the Army or pursuing a singing career. When Juke brought up Kanan and offered to go check up on him, Raq emphasized that she was there to talk about her and not Kanan. When Famous got to Cafe Vous to work, he heard his song being played and eventually walked into a conversation about him. Shirley was listening to his song in the back with her friend old Lowell Gelfand, the owner of a few independent labels. Gelfand ended up there because Shirley thought that he, Famous and Lou could collaborate and she wanted him to hear their music. An impressed Gelfand told Famous that the three of them (including Lou) should set up a meeting. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, when Shirley asked if he had heard from Lou, Famous quickly lied. He told them that he had been in contact with Lou all the time and he would hit him after he left to make the meeting happen.

Marvin was once again handling big brother duties this episode. After not seeing or hearing from Lou for days, Marvin went to his apartment. Unfortunately, after Marvin paid Lou’s landlord to let him inside, there was no sign of Lou and the crib was a complete mess. Ronnie was also a mess after finding out that he no longer had a connect. Realizing that they knew what was about to happen and didn’t warn him, Ronnie stormed into Snaps and Pop’s place only to have them point guns at him. Once every one calmed down a bit, Pop let Ronnie know that he needs to figure things out because it’s not just his money that he’s losing. Captain Baptiste probably thought that Captain Burke was losing his mind (for blaming Howard for Nicole’s investigation/death and implicating Howard in illegal activities) until the two sat down and discussed it further. Burke explained that Howard actually went to Nicole’s father and told him to file a complaint on Shannon. In the midst of their discussion, Burke brought up Laverne Thomas (Jukebox) and it made a light go off in Captain Baptiste’s head. He immediately got on the phone and called Agent Tanner. While this was taking place, Marvin went to one of their spots and put out the word that he had real money for anybody who could tell him where Lou was. One of the workers informed him about the liquor store robbery the night before. Once Agent Tanner showed up to the station, Baptiste put the picture together for him a bit better. He reminded him how the girl who overdosed dated a Laverne Thomas, who just so happens to be the daughter of Marvin Thomas. Baptiste, Tanner and Burke realized that there was some type of connection between Marvin, Detective Burke and Detective Howard. Speaking of, Raq summoned Howard to ask for an assist with helping Lou. She convinced him that he needed to help by reminding him that they’re all connected. Gerald seems to be the main reason that Marvin is connected with the feds and he obviously started to feel bad about it. As him and Marvin met at the park, Gerald basically told Marvin that their talks have helped, he’s gotten better and that he didn’t want to be a burden any longer. Marvin reassured him that he wasn’t being a burden and even if he was, that’s what friendship was all about.

Famous didn’t know where he could find Lou and thought that Kanan might have an answer. Unfortunately for him, Kanan didn’t answer the door, Ronnie did. He told Famous to go away and when he didn’t and instead tried to talk to Kanan, Ronnie choked him up against the wall. Once Kanan physically stopped Ronnie from further hurting him, he told Famous that Juke had her performance at the mall later and everybody would be there including himself. Once Famous left, Ronnie questioned Kanan about going to the mall even though they didn’t have any business there. Kanan quickly sniped back and told Ronnie that he doesn’t need to be worrying about what he’s doing. Before the performance, Juke peaked from behind the stage to see who all was in attendance. Famous ended up showing up and so did all the immediate members of the Thomas family except Lou. N’Kiyah gave Butta an amazing pep talk before they hit the stage that proved to be exactly what they needed to hear. The performance turned out great, as Krystal, Iesha and Juke all did amazing and the crowd loved them. While this was happening, the one family member that wasn’t there to witness Butta’s greatness was actually being picked up by the cops at a bar. After the performance, Kanan ran into Marvin and his mother. Raq invited her son to a celebration that they were going to throw for Juke but Kanan declined. Raq told Kanan that threatening his social worker is only going to make his problems worse. She then told him that if she makes one more phone call, they would come and take him upstate. An unfazed Kanan responded by telling her that he could make phone calls too and there are places she could be taken. Marvin had enough of Kanan disrespect and told him that he needed to stop talking to his mother in the manner that he was or he would chastise him himself. Raq urged Marvin to calm down and continued speaking with Kanan. She told him that Ronnie didn’t see the world like most people. Kanan replied that he trusted Ronnie right now than he did her. When Raq mentioned that Ronnie killed his own brother, Kanan said that he heard that she did it (specifically so that she could take Unique’s connect). Becoming annoyed with the back and forth, Raq came out and told Kanan that his business with Ronnie was dead and that he was done. Kanan exclaimed that Raq doesn’t tell him when he’s done before storming out of the building. Juke probably wishes that she could have stormed out right after their performance. Her, Iesha and Krystal (who complimented Juke on their performance) watched N’Kiyah talk to who they thought were talents scouts/agents, but they were completely wrong. Agent Tanner introduced himself and Detective Ogden and let Juke know that they had some questions that they needed to ask her regarding her family’s connection to organized crime and other criminal activities. All three girls and N’Kiyah all looked devastated by what was happening.

As bad as things were for Juke, they probably were worse for her Uncle. The two cops that picked up Lou from the bar took him to an abandoned house and waited until Howard arrived. When he did, they hipped him that Lou was very drunk and very chatty. In fact, he told them that he robbed a liquor store the night before. He didn’t stop there though. Lou told Howard that he could damn near solve every murder on the Southside (and he was probably telling the truth). Even in his drunken state of mind, Lou was able to conclude that it was Howard who told Raq that Scrap was a snitch. After Lou basically said Scrap’s death was on Howard, Howard put his gun to Lou’s head and threatened to kill him if he said anything else. Lou responded and said that he was already dead and had been dead. Although Lou was ready and willing to face death if he had to, the same wasn’t for every one. Marvin pulled up to the hospital where he found a very out of sorts Gerald. Gerald broke it to him that while he was taking a few minutes to himself (he was doing drugs), his daughter Alice drowned in the tub. That wasn’t all. Child services told him that they were taking his other daughter Amber away also. Marvin tried his best to console Gerald by telling him that he needed help and maybe it was good that they took Amber for now so that he could get better. A distraught Gerald kept downing himself and eventually called himself an awful friend. When Marvin tried to convince him otherwise, Gerald finally fessed up to his actions. He told Marvin that he got caught with heroin and that if he didn’t get them something, the feds would lock him up and put his kids in foster homes. Gerald did his best to try and explain that he did it for his kids but Marvin didn’t want to hear it. He made sure that Gerald felt terrible by calling him a piece of sh-t friend and father. Had it not been for Raq paging Marvin, he might’ve acted irrationally in the moment but instead he left. The same cops that used Gerald to get to Marv were trying to do the same thing, but with Juke this time. Agent Tanner spilled all his theories on Marvin and told Juke she was there to tell them more. Juke let Tanner know that they didn’t know anything. When Tanner asked if Howard and Marvin were friends, Juke responded that her father isn’t friends with any cops, organized crime or anybody else. It was clear to Juke that the cops didn’t have too much and she expressed that to Tanner. She told him that if they had anything, they wouldn’t be talking to her. She was obviously right because Tanner didn’t have a response. When Raq finally met Howard, she gave him a piece of her mind. As he let her know how Lou was chattering to him about all of their secrets, she brought up that he had been keeping one big one from her…the task force’s investigation on Marvin. Howard explained that if they put the whole thing on Marvin, the both of them and Kanan would be all good. He continued by saying that Marvin has to take one for the team and he’s sure that he would understand. Before Howard left, Raq declared that she would never sell her family out. Speaking of selling out, Gerald couldn’t live with the choices he had made. When the FBI came to pick up his other daughter and he didn’t answer, they busted into his house only to find that he had overdosed on drugs.

The news of Gerald’s death cut Tanner’s time with Juke short. Before he let her go, he asked her one more time if she ever seen Marvin interact with Detective Howard. She reminded him that he ruined her whole life tonight so he shouldn’t expect her to answer his questions. He responded by telling her that none of them ever make a clean escape from their f’d up families. Back at Gerald’s house, his death was concluded as a suicide. Ironically enough, as soon as Marvin met up with Raq, she warned him that he couldn’t touch Gerald because if anything happened to him, they’d come straight for him. While he pleaded for them not to kill him and brought up Scrap yet again. Raq ordered Marvin to get Lou in the car. Back at the police station, Howard’s questionable actions finally came into question. Captain Baptiste asked him specifically if he leaned on Mr. Bingham to go to IAD and put in the complaint on Burke. Before he could answer, Tanner asked about the nature of he and Marvin’s relationship. In true Howard fashion, he flipped the blame as quickly as he could. He admitted to talking to Mr. Bingham but said it was only to see how deep and dark it was. He then claimed that once he seen how bad it was, he told Mr. Bingham to go talk to IAD and the only reason he didn’t do it himself was because he isn’t a snitch. He responded to Tanner by telling him that he doesn’t have any sort of relationship. Kanan’s relationships with Ronnie, Snaps and Pop might be on its last leg. Kanan sat across from the three adults and they delivered a pretty straightforward message to him…Raq was messing with their investment/money and she needed to be handled. It seems like Raq and Marvin got tired of not handling a pressing issue for them. The episode comes to a close with the two older siblings driving Lou down a long dark road to who knows where. During the drive, Lou begs them not to leave him and tries to negotiate but to no avail. Raq and Marvin tell Lou that they love him but he did it to himself. Marvin gives Lou what might’ve been his last drink before Lou tells them to do what they have to do. Did Raq and Marvin kill Lou? Or did they take him to a rehab or something? How will Snaps, Pop and Ronnie try to handle their Raq situation? Is Juke’s career over? Can Howard worm his way out of trouble this time? What’s next for Famous’ career? There are still so many questions left to be answered with only one episode left in the season. Let us know what you thought about this episode and what you think will happen on the season finale in the comments!